Trade piece part of Prospect Team of the Week

MLBPipeline.com's Prospect Team of the Week honors the best performances from the previous seven days. Any player currently on an organization Top 30 Prospects list on our Prospect Watch is eligible, including big leaguers.

Players aren't just playing for their parent organization when on the field. Every game can be considered an audition for 29 other teams.

That's particularly true when the non-waiver Trade Deadline rolls around. As buyers and sellers at the big league level try to work out deals, scouts are working hard in the Minor Leagues to evaluate prospects who could be potentially included in deals.

Case in point is the left-handed pitcher for the Prospect Team of the Week for July 20-26. The Cincinnati Reds had obviously done their due diligence in scouting Cody Reed as they talked to the Royals about dealing Johnny Cueto to Kansas City. The fact he went out and tossed seven shutout frames in his finale with the Royals' organization wasn't the clincher in making sure he was included in the deal, but it certainly didn't hurt.

C: Dom Nunez, Rockies (No. 8 prospect)
5 G, .450/.500/.850, 8 R, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBIs, 2 BB, 3 SO

Nunez continued what's been a very productive month of July with Asheville in the South Atlantic League. He has a seven-game hitting streak, starting and ending the week with a homer. Nunez went 5-for-9 in his last two games and is hitting .356/.493/.678 this month.

1B: Christian Walker, Orioles (No. 3 prospect)
7 G, .414/.414/.862, 9 R, 4 2B, 3 HR, 10 RBIs, 4 SO

Walker had three multihit games this past week. He began the week by homering, followed that with a three-hit performance, then homered again on Wednesday. Walker hit his third homer of the week to cap things off on Sunday, doubling his home run total for the month of July in one week.

2B: Kody Eaves, Angels (No. 25 prospect)
7 G, .286/.355/.821, 6 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 12 RBIs, 3 BB, 6 SO, 1 SB

Most of the damage Eaves did last week came on Wednesday, when the second baseman hit three homers for Inland Empire in the California League. He also drove in six. Eaves did double and triple in later games, then he finished things off on Sunday with a three-run homer and a four-RBI game to give him a dozen RBIs for the week.

3B: Matt Chapman, A's (No. 3 prospect)
6 G, .333/.346/.833, 3 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBIs, 1 BB, 5 SO

Chapman homered on Monday to get the week going, then finished strongly by going 5-for-9 with a pair of homers on Saturday and Sunday. The 2014 first-rounder is hitting .307/.404/.727 this month.

SS: Trevor Story, Rockies (No. 12 prospect)
6 G, .500/.536/1.192, 6 R, 6 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBIs, 2 BB, 6 SO

Not only did Story pick up at least one hit in all six games he played, he had multihit performances in five of them. He began the week with a homer, then hit two out on Tuesday, driving in four. Story has had no problem making the transition to Triple-A, hitting .301/.333/.663 since getting promoted on July 1.

OF: Lewis Brinson, Rangers (No. 6 prospect)
7 G, .520/.567/.920, 8 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBIs, 3 BB, 6 SO, 3 SB

High Desert in the California League might be the best place in the Minors to hit, but Brinson did a lot of damage in four road games as well. After an 0-for-2 in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday, he hit in his other six games, finishing off the week with a four-hit performance on Sunday. That was Brinson's fourth multihit game of the week. He's hitting .393/.475/.750 this month.

OF: Jordan Patterson, Rockies (No. 21 prospect)
6 G, .500/.560/.955, 5 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 BB, 3 SO, 3 SB

Patterson has spent just 10 games total in Double-A, earning a promotion on July 16. After an 0-for-3 start to the week, he went 11-for-19 the rest of the way, homering on Wednesday and again on Sunday, driving in five runs combined on Saturday and Sunday. All three of Patterson's steals came in Saturday's contest.

OF: Teoscar Hernandez, Astros (No. 7 prospect)
7 G, .290/.353/.774, 9 R, 5 HR, 7 RBIs, 3 BB, 8 SO, 1 SB

Hernandez has started to get his bat going of late with an active 10-game hitting streak. He's hit six of his 13 home runs in July, and five of those came last week. Hernandez went deep once on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, then hit two out and drove in four on Friday.

LHP: Cody Reed, Royals/Reds (No. 7 prospect)
1 G, 1-0, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO

As a parting gift to the Royals' organization, Reed turned in his best Double-A start of the year in his fifth outing at the level. It was the first time he'd gone seven full innings in the Texas League, and his seven strikeouts were also a high for the level. Reed's 2.53 combined ERA led the Royals' organization.

RHP: Tyler Mahle, Reds (No. 29 prospect)
2 G, 2-0, 13 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 11 SO

Mahle earned his second PTOW nod of the season with two very strong outings for Dayton in the Midwest League. On Monday, the right-hander matched a season high with nine strikeouts over seven innings, allowing just two hits and three walks. Mahle didn't miss as many bats on Saturday (two strikeouts), but he still only allowed one unearned run on five hits. His 2.41 ERA is third in the organization.